[chairmankaga]

>For example, I’ve told recruiters about my salary expectations and had them laugh and say “no one gives that kind of [salary/equity/vacation/benefits].”

I had a similar experience looking for my first job in Chicago a few years back.

I met with a fairly large general recruiting firm in the area just so they could feel me out.

I named my expectation of 50-60k to which the recruiter replied.

"You know... when I moved to Chicago I was living on 18k"

Not exactly the type of response I expected.

[Cerium]

"Wow, you came to Chicago as a software engineer too? Tell me about how you got into recruiting?"

[varjag]

Ugh what one should even say to that? "sucks to be you"?

[Calist0]

I would have walked out after hearing that. How could a recruiting firm be of any help to you if their goal is to get you to accept a low paying job asap. They'll be fighting with you every step of the way. I would rather search for a job on my own, even if it means eating ramen every day for months.